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The GEICO Honda team hasn’t had the best news to report lately—Eli Tomac and Zach Bell out with shoulder injuries, a disappointing eighth-place finish for Zach Osborne—but they did have a cool new toy in the form of a brand-new semi. From here on out, the team will roll out separate 450 and 250 rigs. The new truck is slick and will be the home of the 250 riders. In other news, Justin Bogle is back on a bike and will try riding supercross next week. He plans to make the Dallas 250SX East opener, and the rider who was supposed to fill in for him, Blake Wharton, will stay on board, as well.

It seemed surprising that one of the most stylish teams in the business, Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs Honda, didn’t go over the top for retro night (old-school jersey lettering was all). But don’t think Troy Lee himself didn’t get in on it—he actually painted Justin Barcia’s retro-look Muscle Milk Honda himself. The TLD guys say Barcia’s bike was primarily based on the 1989 team Honda look (colors and graphics) but some noted a blue seat, which reaches back a few years before that.

Troy Lee put his golden touch on this bad boy. Photo: Simon Cudby

Honda also had the legendary 1986 CR125R on display, as outfitted for Johnny O’Mara’s incredible performance at the ’86 Motocross des Nations in Italy. Also on display was Donnie Hansen’s full-works bike from 1982, which claimed Honda’s first-ever SX title. Look for a more in depth feature on the Hansen bike later this week.

Surprisingly enough, at A2 Ken Roczen qualified through a heat race for the first time this year—he had to race the semi at the first two races.

California’s weather has been hotter, windier and drier than usual over the last few weeks. That led to a hard, dry, rocky track. Said JGR Toyota Yamaha’s Justin Brayton: “The track was really breaking down by the main event—in the heat race I was able to turn with my front end, really turn down. By the main event, the tops of the berms were gone and you couldn’t do it. For some reason I really struggle in those conditions. I’m looking forward to some tracks with some ruts where you can really turn with the front end.”

With the rocks coming up, flat tires became an issue. Jimmy Albertson’s main event ended early with a flat, and Nick Wey had one too but managed to nurse it home for 15th. James Stewart also punctured a tire in practice.

Let’s get to the lap times:

450SX Class

Lap Rank

Finish

Best Lap

In Lap

Avg Lap Time

Rider

1

1

51.882

18

52.852

Chad Reed

2

6

52.038

6

53.902

Ryan Dungey

3

3

52.096

5

53.025

Ken Roczen

4

2

52.183

6

53.053

James Stewart

5

11

52.198

6

53.578

Justin Barcia

6

5

52.330

6

53.755

Ryan Villopoto

7

4

52.597

4

53.131

Justin Brayton

8

10

52.996

13

54.426

Jake Weimer

9

9

53.218

11

54.287

Andrew Short

10

7

53.279

13

53.976

Weston Peick

11

8

53.295

5

54.170

Josh Hill

12

12

53.360

6

54.773

Wil Hahn

13

15

53.642

3

56.070

Nick Wey

14

14

53.970

3

56.082

Josh Grant

15

13

54.108

10

55.259

Ivan Tedesco

16

19

54.184

6

57.647

Matt Moss

17

16

54.398

5

55.778

Matt Goerke

18

22

54.441

4

56.092

Jimmy Albertson

19

17

54.920

6

55.800

Vince Friese

20

18

55.376

7

56.559

Mike Alessi

21

21

55.578

4

58.454

Kyle Partridge

22

20

55.621

5

58.656

Chris Blose

250SX Class

Lap Rank

Finish

Best Lap

In Lap

Avg Lap Time

Rider

1

1

51.515

2

52.838

Cole Seely

2

4

51.656

3

52.721

Jason Anderson

3

2

51.934

3

54.303

Cooper Webb

4

7

52.023

3

54.185

Dean Wilson

5

6

52.826

3

54.422

Zach Osborne

6

5

53.010

10

54.206

Justin Hill

7

3

53.151

3

54.889

Malcolm Stewart

8

6

53.251

5

55.084

Shane McElrath

9

11

54.077

2

56.954

Dean Ferris

10

9

54.147

5

55.404

Michael Leib

11

10

54.558

7

56.034

Jessy Nelson

12

12

56.001

7

57.859

Dakota Tedder

13

18

56.143

5

57.655

Scott Champion

14

13

56.728

7

58.812

Cole Martinez

15

20

56.757

3

1:00.141

Austin Burns

16

15

57.035

9

59.344

Valentin Teillet

17

16

57.195

2

1:01.830

Chris Howell

18

14

57.814

2

59.360

Chris Plouffe

19

17

58.301

2

1:02.832

Conner Elliott

20

19

59.377

2

1:01.108

Chris Proscelle

21

21

1:00.291

2

1:00.291

Aaron Siminoe

22

22

1:03.766

2

1:03.766

Joseph Dalzell

Each week we delve into the lap charts, trying to find a hidden gem, something that sparks interest. With long-time rivals James Stewart and Chad Reed dipping into the fountain of youth and battling for the win, what could be a better comparison? Well, we actually found two that should spark some debate.

First, let’s take a side-by-side look at the final eight laps of Stewart and Reed.

Lap

Chad Reed

James Stewart

13

52.509

53.06

14

52.823

53.891

15

53.12

53.707

16

53.638

53.357

17

52.204

53.22

18

51.882

54.353

19

52.927

53.153

20

54.529

53.607

Reed, using an outside line through the whoops and a 90-degree turn to get a huge run at a series of on-offs, started upping his pace, reeled in Ken Roczen and Stewart—he was laying down 52s laps, compared to Stewart’s 53s. But if you want an all-time example of digging deep, on the lap Reed went for the lead on Stewart, he dipped all the way into the 51s with a 51.8. That was the fastest lap of the 450 main—on lap 18!

His charge came crashing down, literally, but Ryan Villopoto was also about to put on a similar run to get the lead, earlier in the race. Let’s have a look.

Lap

Ryan Villopoto

James Stewart

2

52.778

53.013

3

53.469

52.926

4

52.873

52.372

5

52.534

52.197

6

52.33

52.183

7

52.404

52.345

8

52.568

52.85

9

52.47

53.113

10

52.567

52.983

11

52.718

52.644

12

53.198

53.039

13

52.54

53.06

14

53.414

53.891

Stewart was outpacing RV early, but on lap nine, Villopoto found another gear and closed the gap. Ultimately, Villopoto’s chances ended after colliding with Stewart, but it would have been interesting to see how the two titans battled down the stretch—especially with a red-hot Reed in the shadows. Check out the times—they were pushing each other hard out front.

For the second consecutive week, Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs Honda’s Cole Seely set the fastest lap of the night—450SX and 250SX combined. Jason Anderson’s 51.656 was second behind Seely—Reed’s 51.8 was third fastest of the night and tops in the 450s.

Seely set the fastest lap of the night at A2. Photo: Simon Cudby

Another week, another close battle on the lap charts in 450SX. Seven of the top eight lap times were set in 52-second range.

It was a banner night for Lucas Oil/Troy Lee Designs Honda in Anaheim. The team put two riders on the podium—Cole Seely and Malcolm Stewart—after Jason Anderson was docked two positions for jumping on the red cross flag. Anderson’s penalty gave Malcolm his first career supercross podium. Further, all four TLD riders—Seely, Stewart, Shane McElrath and Jessy Nelson—finished inside the top ten.

Vince Friese has come under heavy scrutiny for his on track antics. Off the track, though, Friese is viewed much differently. Need proof? Chris Blose was not going to be able to race Anaheim 2 due to bike problems. But Friese stepped in and loaned him a bike for the night. Blose finished 20th on the loaner bike—and actually ended up battling Friese on an identical bike in both the semi and LCQ.

CycleTrader.com Rock River Yamaha’s Les Smith suffered four dislocated ribs in a practice crash in Anaheim. Smith, in obvious pain, soldiered on to the second practice but failed to make the main event after finishing 11th in the LCQ.

Rough night, I've never rode in so much pain, gonna have to take a few days to heal up and be a man next week.

A week after a tremendous crash in Phoenix, which left him coughing up blood, Weston Peick tied a career-high at A2 with a seventh. Jason Weigandt will have more on Peick later this week in his weekly ReduX column.

With Jake Canada on the sideline, 51Fifty brought on Chris Plouffe—who had previously ridden for the team—for the weekend. The deal was only for one round, which leaves Plouffe looking for support the remainder of the West Region. He tweeted the following today:

Trying to make something happen so I can race the rest of the west coast rounds! Hopefully figure something out soon!

Broc Tickle is expected back for Oakland. Photo: Simon Cudby

Not a good result for Justin Barcia with an 11th, but it appeared he was on his way to sixth after a bad start. He later crashed, which set him back. Said Barcia in a team statement: "Today didn't go anywhere near how I wanted. The track was pretty challenging and I ended up going down during both practice and the main event. Luckily I got third in my heat, but after the start of the main I was riding tight and making a lot of mistakes. My front end tucked in the turn at home plate and I lost a lot of time. I'm disappointed in how this season has gone so far but am determined to get on the podium."

SmarTop MotoConcept’s Mike Alessi was sick on race day, and just tried to tough it out—he ended up 18th.

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Darryn Durham had a scary moment in practice following a huge crash. Durham was reportedly unconscious for several minutes, before being taken to the emergency room. Durham was diagnosed with a concussion and may miss a few weeks. “I’m gutted I can’t be out there alongside my teammates, but I took a hard hit and my health is the most important thing,” said Durham in a team statement. “I hope I can get back out there next weekend, but I’ll have to take it day-by-day.”

After a big crash last week in Phoenix, JGR/Toyota Yamaha’s Josh Grant had to ride through a shoulder injury at A2. The team’s designated backup rider, Phil Nicoletti, was on hand in case JG couldn’t go, but the veteran put in his laps and scored 14th in the main event.

A big crash for Soaring Eagle Casino RCH’s Broc Tickle in his semi sent him out for the night—it’s the first 450 SX main Tickle had to scratch due to injury since he joined the class full time in 2012. He was battered and bruised, but expected to be back this weekend in Oakland.

We’re going to say this because it’s awesome: just five points separate the top five riders in the 450SX standings.